Thursday, July 23, 1970
Citizens of Pocahontas County:
I wish to express to you a deep appreciation for your support and cooperation during my tenure as your superintendent of schools.
A man will accomplish little in this world if he spends a lot of time and energy trying desperately to please everybody. It simply cannot be done. I have not tried to please everyone while serving as your superintendent, but have tried to do my job to the best of my ability.
Only your cooperation and kindness sustained me through the fires, floods and other troubles we have faced. Consider how impoverished the world would be if the pioneers in the various fields of human endeavor had allowed themselves to be stopped by opposition and censure.
I received many written and verbal blasts of opposition during the bond campaign, which I never revealed to my family or friends. I expected these blasts because of the closing of the community high schools; however, time will heal the wounds…
One of the greatest handicaps in Pocahontas County is the lack of adequate communications. Rumors and more rumors result in untruths and street gossip. There is no way to combat this situation except for you, the citizens, to seek the truth…
You, the citizens, have done your part in passing the bond issue to construct your new comprehensive high school. Now it is up to the administrators, the teachers and the students to make the best possible use of it for the betterment of the community, the state and the nation…
You can be extremely proud this fall when your new high school opens its doors for the first time to give your boys and girls a better opportunity to face the future…
On behalf of my family and myself, I wish to say thank you for allowing us to be a part of your community, and I am sure we will be ever grateful to you.
Sincerely, Grey M. Cassell
Big Gift
The public is invited to the courthouse this Friday evening, July 24, at 8 p.m. when INTERCO Incorporated (formerly International Shoe Company) will present to the Town of Marlinton its tannery properties. Tom Morrison, former Superintendent of the Marlinton tannery, will represent J. K. Riedy, President of INTERCO, in giving to Mayor James Waugh the deed to 14 acres occupied by the Tannery proper and 55 more acres to the south of Town used for treatment ponds. The Company will make an outright gift of the property to the Town, wishing to show its appreciation of the many years in business here and hoping it will be the means of bringing in new industry.
Negotiations have been underway since early spring when a group from the Marlinton Chamber of Commerce went to St. Louis to make an offer to buy the property. After listening to the men’s proposal, the directors of the parent company met and told the men the property would be a gift but to keep it as much a secret as possible.
So the time has arrived and you are invited…
Cass Railroad Music
The wooded hills of West Virginia’s famed Greenbrier Valley will resound to the music of America’s most popular musicians on August 12, during the production of an “American Heritage” television special for national broadcasting this fall.
The ten special programs in the series will interpret the cultural background of the United States and its major regions and folk customs. West Virginia’s Cass Scenic Railroad was chosen as the “outstanding location in America to tell the story of the American Railroad and its contribution to the country,” according to Thomas Cherones, producer of the series.
The concert, which begins at 1 p.m. at the railroad depot in the little lumber town of Cass, will be open to the public at no charge…
Stars who will perform during the two and one-half hour concert include Oscar Brand Odetta and Leon Bibb singers… Merle Travis – writer and performer of such classic country tunes as “Sixteen Tons…” Rounding out the star-studded show are the longtime favorites of country music… Bill Monroe and the Bluegrass Boys…
On August 13, the production will move to the steep tracks of the Cass Railroad leading to Bald Knob, where sound film crews will record the old Shay steam locomotive in action…
BIRTHS
Born to Mr. and Mrs. Leonard Loudermilk, of Covington, Virginia, a daughter, named Lori Ann.
Born to Mr. and Mrs. Wendell Monk, of Arbovale, a son, named John Douglas.
Born to Mr. and Mrs. Ray Byrd, of Wheeling, a daughter, named Amy Jennifer.
DEATHS
Mrs. Kate Simmons Auldridge Yeager, 93, formerly of Marlinton, wife of the late Sterling B. Yeager and sister of the late L. O. Simmons. Burial in the Mountain View Cemetery.
Simon W. Hill, M. D., 85, of Regent, North Dakota; born at Jacox, a son of Peter and Margaret Whiting Hill.
Mrs. Catherine Alice Curry Humphrey, 46, of Lake Charles, Louisiana; a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Howard Curry, of Bartow. Interment at Prien Memorial Park, Lake Charles.